Adapting green roof to cold climate

In her presentation, Anna Thurmayr mentioned her research interest in the impact of snow on green roofs. A project was carried out in Quebec, lead by Environment Canada and the National Research Council of Canada, testing the use of juniper shrubs – an evergreen that requires more soil than the average green roof provides – in minimizing heat loss from buildings in winter. The study found that heat loss was reduced by more than 10 percent with the shrub application.

“Winter green roofs make sense when you consider the century’s old practice of using turf and other plants as building materials for insulating homes.”

Read about the study here: http://www.ec.gc.ca/envirozine/english/issues/62/feature2_e.cfm

reverb experiments

Here’s a demonstration of structure/surroundings affecting reverberation. Please excuse the poor audio quality – I recorded it onto my computer into garage band, and I haven’t kept up with practicing, either, to make matters worse – however, I think the point is made: if you listen carefully, there is a perceptible difference between the clips. The files are embedded on zshare.net, so these links will lead you there:

Schafer Sonatina long reverb

Schafer Sonatina short reverb

The first was recorded in a large, open room, and the second in a very small, closed room. The music is from R. Murray Schafer’s Sonatina for Flute and Harpsichord (mvt 1)… obviously I’m playing the flute part. Interestingly, R. Murray Schafer conducted extensive studies on “Soundscape” out of Simon Fraser University, in the 70′s the “World Soundscape Project” (1973, Sonic Research Studio, Department of Communication Studies, Simon Fraser University). The purpose was to examine the concept of noise pollution in a series of radio programmes “designed to stimulate listeners’ awareness of sound and its perception, in the hope that they might take positive and constructive interest in their own sound environment” – a very interesting concept, particularly relevant to Landscape and Urbanism.

Source: http://www.sfu.ca/~truax/canada.html

more about sound…

Back to Dr. Mallory-Hill’s lecture on sound and architecture… the way music theory and musical styles have developed fascinates me – Gregorian Chant is monophonic because it was begun in churches with large domes that caused lots of reverb, and so to articulate the lyrics clearly, it was necessary to keep it simple. Eventually it evolved into two-parts, with the melody sung by tenor, plus another part one fourth above. This reminds me of French singer Camille Le Fil’s album “Le Fil” which features one note spanning in the background throughout its entirety (a “vocal drone”) – see Camille-lefil.com. I’ve posted a video from one of the songs from that album, and you can hear the constant note particularly at the beginning and end of the piece. It’s very subtle the rest of the time – almost like insects buzzing, when you can barely hear it, but you become aware of it kind of subconsciously first and then realize you’ve been hearing it for awhile already. Our brains are excellent filters.

Different topic: it’s interesting to note that the role of architecture influencing sound in a space has changed from attempts to amplify the sound to sound control, since amplifying technology is available. Particularly in modern architecture, where there are flat surfaces and nothing to really absorb or diffuse the sound, echoing effects are created. It’s astonishing how specific locations can affect the perception of traveling soundwaves so significantly too – in my house (lots of hardwood and wood detailing, so theoretically the acoustics would be decent) my room is located at the top of the staircase on the second floor, and from there I can hear a conversation from the basement, at a quiet-to-normal noise level. It can be very distracting – no wonder office spaces have to consider the quality of the sound environment and how it carries in a workplace!

Sidenote _ I’m still wondering about:
-speech contours?
-parabolas apparently are not a desirable shape in terms of sound and architecutre… so what about the dome?? What is the difference in their geometries/properties?

why stop at green rooftops?

After looking into green roof techniques, I came across green walls and, specifically, the vertical garden techniques created by Patrick Blanc. I’m not entirely convinced on how or why it works, but I’m sure he’s trying to keep as much of it a secret as possible, otherwise he’d be out of a job. What I do know is that the key to the idea is that the system does not use soil, but rather a cycle of mineral-filled water that is absorbed by the plants as needed. In a technical sense, this system is interesting, but it also allows the opportunity to create very aesthetically pleasing designs, which are much more widely appreciated than the engineering marvel that is vertical gardening.

http://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/mainen.php

Flood architecture icon goes under water

Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth house near Chicago, Illinois is a beautiful modern example of the flood architecture that Ed Epp spoke about in class. Although the stilted structure is built off the ground it unfortunately underwent massive flooding in mid-September of this year. Designing structures that can withstand flood conditions is important for their longevity – and, in this case, for preserving their historical significance and beauty.  The structure is now undergoing restoration.

To see a photo chronology of the flooded architectural icon, see the link below.

http://www.farnsworthhouse.org/flood_chronology_2008.htm

Leah D.

Polymer Solar Cells

A new technique for creating solar cells has been discovered by researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. Prof. Yang Yang, of the school, substituted a plastic atom for a carbon atom at the back of the solar panel resulting in an increased solar absorption and better output. 

“Polymer solar cells utilize organic compounds to produce electricity from sunlight. They are much cheaper to produce than traditional silicon-based solar cells and are also environmentally friendly.”

It’s going to be nice when I can buy a solar panel and install it myself. Thanks to Prof. Yang Yang people are that much closer to getting better-made solar panels.

Source: Wong Kromhout, Weileen. UCLA Newsroom. “UCLA researchers create polymer solar cells with higher efficiency levels”. November 11 2008.

flood architecture (re: nov 20 class II)

Prof. Ed Epp spoke about the international centre for flood architecture (ICFA) during the second part of class. It’s fascinating to see how responses and interactions with the environment at this scale are essentially divided by political boundaries, although many of these (hydrologic) systems transcend political boundaries (topography is often irrelevant to country lines, it seems). An interesting collaboration has taken place between North Dakota (U.S.) and Manitoba (Canada), which only makes sense, since both areas are affected by the Red River. Visit ICFA for more extensive information.

Major water events are a major issue worldwide. In Winnipeg, we experienced the Red River Flood of 1997 which was a very significant flood, especially considering the location (central/prairies)… in coastal regions, and particularly those in developing countries, the problems are far more complex and deadly. Consider Bangladesh, and it’s 1991 disaster. Topographically, the land is essentially at sea level, which is a huge issue for flooding. Some flood shelters have been built, but there is always room for improvement, and the architecture is more of a by-product of the landscape, in these cases. Still, “few structures in Bangladesh, or anywhere, are built to completely withstand hurricane-force winds, ad so wind damage is inevitable, as is flooding when rain is falling at rates exceeding 50 cm per day..” (1). How do we deal with this? Policy? “Aid”? NGO-involvement? Improvements in technology? Attempts to alter and “control” the landscape better? Better warning systems (at least)?

Could this be a reality, considering the loss of coast worldwide as sea levels rise, and the consequent influx of environmental refugees?

(2)

Side note: “Refugees of the Blue Planet” (2006 – dir Jean-Philippe Duval) was an eye-opener.

(1) Haque, C. Emdad and Danny Blair. Vulnerability to Tropical Cyclones: Evidence from the April 1991 Cyclone in Coastal Bangladesh”. 1992. 9.
(2) Vincent Callebaut. Vincent Callebaut Architectures. “Lilypad, A Floating Ecopolis for Climate Refugees, Oceans 2008, World”.

re: nov 27 class

Anna Thurmayr, a landscape architect and professor in the faculty, was our guest lecturer today. She talked about the critical role of social and legal characteristics of successful green initiatives, citing Germany as an example of successful implementation of greenroofing – 1 in 10 roofs were “green” in 2002, due to by-laws (the activity and leadership of the German Green Party – Bündnis 90/Die Grünen – has been a key part of this). Also in germany, beer gardens are a main socializing venue – thus gardens (and the idea of “green”) are an intrinsic part to the majority’s daily life.

Biergarten in Munich, Germany. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/88/238922582_a1a077904d.jpg

Part of the research Anna is currently involved in is an analysis of Winnipeg and the feasibility of greenroofing here – in terms of legalities, the structural capabilities of our buildings as well as our harsh climate. I wonder what kind of engineering technologies could be developed to modify existing buildings to strengthen their roofs in order to support the (significant) weight of a green roof or rooftop garden?

putting bridges to work

What an idea! Wind is often very strong across open water, so this project by Michael Jantzen makes a lot of sense (and looks super cool). Bridges around our city and the world are often underused – in Italy (Florence, Rome), the Ponte Vecchio has shoppes all along it, but the majority have the potential to be so much more. Multi-tasking is (and will continue to be) key, as development continues in dense urban areas.

michael jantzen's wind turbine bridge. see http://www.humanshelter.org/

Ponte Vecchio, Florence. Author's own. 2007.

Roofs that work!

I love when school intermingles with anything I’m interested in. Example: Green roofs originated from beer gardens. When people didn’t have fridges they would store beer in a cellar to keep it cold. When a beer was ordered it was brought up from the cellar to a drinking area located on top of the cellar which was a beer garden. Green roofs were designed to house beer – awesome. This green idea came around along time ago and now is when it becomes most relevant… funny how that works. 

I like the idea of a green roof – it sucks water up, decreases pollution drastically, saves tons of money by not having to reroute that extra water, and looks so good. A green roof has a purpose in the world instead of releasing tons of bad chemicals to the planet. 

Green roofs are easier to make in a climate that has warmer winters than Winnipeg. The problem with green roofs here is that when the snow melts in spring the drainage systems are plugged by ice. So how do we get the water off the roof without flooding it? This is one of the large problems with green roofs in Winnipeg. If we could find an easy solution I think the city would benefit from it.